Politics
Opponents argue the expansion will increase noise, harm the environment, and threaten nearby historic sites for the benefit of a few private jet owners.
Fife and drum music echoed through the State House on Tuesday as Concord Minute Men, dressed in colonial garb, rallied to protect historic grounds near Hanscom Field airport.
The Concord Minute Men joined dozens of others at the State House to deliver a petition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to Gov. Maura Healey. The petition urges her to stop a proposed expansion of Hanscom Field airport, adding over 50,000 square feet — or two-thirds of a mile — of private jet hangar space.
Proponents argue that the expansion would bring noise, pollution, and traffic to historic grounds that are footsteps away from where the “shot heard ’round the world” was fired 250 years ago during the battles of Lexington and Concord. They say the expansion would only benefit the few private jet owners.
The jets would use the runway that leads planes over Minute Man Park, Walden Pond, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, and the historic homes.
Mark Thoreau, a family descendant of Henry David Thoreau, read a quote from his forefather at the State House: “Thank God, men cannot as yet fly, and lay waste to the sky as well as the earth … It is for the very reason that some do not care for these things that we need to combine to protect all from the vandalism of a few.”
Last May, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated Minute Man National Historic Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks as among America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places due to the threat of the proposed private jet expansion at Hanscom Field.
Advocates say the proposed development would lead to increased noise disruption in an area already impacted by noise from jet traffic, often interrupting park programming.
Hanscom Field, located in Bedford, is the region’s largest noncommercial airport and the second busiest in New England, following Logan.
A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) says the proposed project by developers Runway Realty Ventures, LLC and North Airfield Ventures, LLC, would clear-cut and pave 20 acres of forested land and build 17 hangars that would double the airport’s private jet infrastructure.
Using private capital, North Airfield Ventures says the project is creating an “aviation facility of the future” that promotes clean aviation fuels, supports electric aircraft service vehicles, and uses solar panels and other sustainable technologies.
The developers say Hanscom does not have enough hangar space to accommodate demand, resulting in empty aircraft flying in and out to pick up and drop off passengers. The expansion, they say, would reduce the extra “ferry flights.”
However, the DEIR report says the infrastructure would add about 6,000 new private jet flights yearly, contributing about 150,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
“As the headwinds that blow against environmental protection have suddenly gained strength, there is no time for complacency,” said Daniel Emerson, descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, at the State House. “As Ralph Waldo reminds us: ‘Good thoughts are no better than good dreams unless they be executed.’”
Last June, Rebecca Tepper, the secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, rejected the developers’ DEIR, saying it “does not adequately and properly” comply with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) and its regulations.
Tepper instructed the developers to return to the drawing board and produce a Supplemental DEIR, which is still pending.
The developers expect to submit the supplemental DEIR report this summer and will conduct community outreach in May.
MEPA does not have the authority to approve or deny any proposal. Only Massport, which operates the airport, the federal government through the FAA, or the developers can terminate the project at any time. It only takes one authority to stop the project.
“We have a real shot folks,” said state Sen. Mike Barrett at the State House. “We have a real opportunity to stop this, and today we’re going to call on the governor of Massachusetts to use all the powers of her office, her considerable moral authority, her political leverage, to persuade Massport to do the right thing.”
A representative for Massport declined to comment, noting that while the authority owns the land, it is not involved in planning for the project.
The opposition to the expansion has received widespread support. The petition submitted to the governor on Tuesday garnered over 4,000 signatures, and a separate petition by the group Stop Private Jet Expansion gathered another 14,000 signatures.
Betsy Merritt, the deputy general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, says there is strong public support for stopping the project. If the state approves the expansion, it might face a wave of litigation challenging the decision.
“I’m sure they are conscious and aware of that and will make the right decision,” she said.
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